YEMEN Press Agency

Al-Murtadha: 900 of our prisoners will be released

SANAA, Feb. 18 (YPA) -The head of the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs in the national salvation government, Abdulqader Al-Murtadha said that the committee signed a draft agreement, which provides for the implementation of the first stage of prisoner exchange with the Saudi side in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The agreement states the exchange of 1400 prisoners from both sides, he said.

“The agreement, which includes 900 from our prisoners and 520 from theirs, is based on the Stockholm Agreement, which is an integral part of it, and a stage of its implementation,” Al-Murtadha said in an interview with Al-Thawra newspaper on Monday.

He pointed out that it is based on four main pillars, the first of which is the unanimous agreement of the parties to adopt the phasing of the solution, so that this will be the first stage, while the second stage of this agreement will be implemented in the second by exchanging 1400 from both parties.

The third stage will be the formation of field committees to recover bodies from all fronts and regions, provided that the last stage includes an agreement on a new round of consultations on March, 23rd, in Amman, to track the implementation of this agreed phase, he added.

Regarding to the first stage, Al-Murtadha said that consultations are still ongoing, and that the two parties are working on preparing, revising and correcting the lists. The lists were exchanged today will be subject to examination and scrutiny to ensure the names are correct before responding to the names they include tomorrow.

Al-Murtadha said that the time and place of the exchange will be agreed upon after signing the statements.

He added, “We hope that the other side will be serious and that the statements they will provide with the names of our prisoners are correct and accurate.”

The round of consultations between the two parties ends next Thursday, when the statements will be delivered to the International Committee of the Red Cross after its revision and signature, he concluded.

E.M